EU is going to reform copyright

On December 5, 2012, the Collegium of European Commissioners held a coordination meeting on the issue of “content in the digital economy”. The question was proposed to the Board by the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso. The preliminary theses ( DOC ) prepared by Mr. Barroso speak of the need to revise European copyright law.

Noting that copyright is a universal mechanism that provides remuneration to the content creator, the document speaks of growing discontent with the current situation both from ordinary citizens and from business.

Legislation in the field of copyright in its current form can hamper the development of new business models and overly restrict the rights of ordinary citizens to access and use content. Both consumers and businesses agree that copyright laws need to be more flexible. The prevalence of such views was one of the main reasons for refusing to participate in the ACTA agreement. The growing number of adherents of the “Pirate Parties” in the EU member states is also a clear indicator of the formation of a new trend.
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Thus, Mr. Barroso concludes, the time has come for the College to come to an agreement on the direction of work on copyright law. The Council of Europe also notes the need to modernize legislation in this area.

Following the meeting, a brief press release was issued in which the European Commission announced the upcoming creation of a modern package of documents in the field of copyright. On December 18, a final press release ( PDF ) was issued, describing in more detail the plans of the European Commission.

The planned package of documents is designed both to protect the interests of rights holders, ensuring the flow of funds for the production of new content, and create all the necessary conditions for the development of art, culture and innovation, increase the amount of legally available content, allow new business models to appear and develop, and more effectively fight piracy.

The European Commission will work in two directions.

In 2013, the stakeholder dialogue mechanism will be launched to resolve as quickly as possible the six most pressing issues regarding cross-border access to content, user-generated content, analysis and data collection, copying materials for personal use, and access to audiovisual materials and cultural objects. heritage. The dialogue is intended to identify the potential opportunities and limitations of existing legislative mechanisms and law enforcement practice in the field of digital technologies.

In parallel, the Commission will study the existing EU regulatory framework, carry out the necessary marketing research and risk assessment, which will allow by 2014 to resolve the issue of the need for a comprehensive reform of European copyright law.

The steps taken by the European Commission in the field of copyright reform are one of the stages of the implementation of the so-called Digital Agenda ( Digital Agenda ) - a strategy for the development of information technologies in the EU and the creation of a single digital market.